the figures are staggering. 44 million people in the united states are not covered by health insurance of any kind. at the same time, costs for even simple tests and procedures are rising at an alarming rate. over half of the unprotected are children. i do see a lot working people-- young, healthy, working people-- with no health-care insurance. i've had patients switching jobs and who didn't consider strongly what their health-care coverage was going to be in between jobs, and they can run into health situations. that can be devastating, because the cost of medications, the cost of visits or laboratory tests can be huge. i actually had a patient with no insurance come for a routine check-up, and some lab studies that i didn't think were very unusual add up to about $900. and i just thought... that's really ridiculous. outpatient prescription drug costs have gone up 15% to 20% in the past year, partially because of many new drugs coming on the market, partially because drug companies are advertising directly to consumers... to increase demand for their products, and partially just beca